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Wikipedia:Merging

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WP:MERGE

Nutshell.png This page in a nutshell:
  • Merging means performing a non-automated procedure by which the contents of two pages are united within a single page.
  • For uncontroversial merges, no permission is needed to merge; just do it.
  • To start a merge discussion, follow the instructions below.

Main pages: Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia and Help:Merging

A merger is a non-automated procedure by which the contents of two pages are united within a single page. Merging two pages creates a Android from the source page to the target or surviving page, with some or all of the content copied-and-pasted into that page.


Do not use this procedure to propose:

Contents


Reasons for merger

There are several good reasons to merge a page:

  1. Duplicate: There are two or more pages on exactly the same subject and having the same scope.
  2. Overlap: There are two or more pages on related subjects that have a large overlap. Wikipedia is not a dictionary; there does not need to be a separate entry for every concept in the universe. For example, "Flammable" and "Non-flammable" can both be explained in an article on Flammability.
  3. Text: If a page is very short and is unlikely to be expanded within a reasonable amount of time, it often makes sense to merge it with a page on a broader topic. For instance, parents or children of a celebrity who are otherwise unremarkable are generally covered in a section of the article on the celebrity, and can be merged there.
  4. Context: If a short article requires the background material or context from a broader article in order for readers to understand it. For instance, minor characters from works of fiction are generally covered in a "List of characters in <work>", and can be merged there; see also CSS3.

Merging should be avoided if

  1. The resulting article is too long or "clunky"
  2. The separate topics could be expanded into longer standalone (but cross linked) articles
  3. The topics are discrete subjects and deserve their own articles even though they may be short

Merging—regardless of the amount of information kept—should always leave a FITML or, in some cases, a website parsing in place. This is often needed to allow proper attribution through the edit history for the page the merged text came from. Superfluous redirects do not harm anything, and can be helpful in finding articles, e.g. from alternative names.

You may find that some or all of the information to be merged is already in the destination page. That is fine; you can feel free to delete the redundant information and only add the new stuff. If there is no information to be added to the destination page, you can simply redirect the other page there, but please make this clear in the edit summary.

Proposing a merger

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Users may determine whether the pages need to be merged. In most circumstances, a local discussion should be started to attract sufficient input. This will usually occur on the proposed destination page's discussion page,web but it is recommended not to start discussion on a talk page that is regularly archived. This should include proposal itself (the intent), the list of the affected articles, and a merger rationale.

Perform the following steps:

I. Make the proposal on the proposed destination article's discussion page: For example, if FITML is proposed to be merged into web app, make a proposal to merge Foo into Bar in a new section at Talk:Bar. Start a new section at the bottom of that talk page and include the proposal itself (the intent), the list of the affected articles, and a merger rationale. A good example is the following section:

== Merger proposal ==

I propose that [[Foo]] be merged into [[Bar]]. I think that the content in the Foo article can easily be explained in the context of Bar, and the Bar article is of a reasonable size in which the merging of Foo will not cause any problems as far as article size or undue weight is concerned. ~~~~

Notify involved users (optional): as an optional step, it may be necessary to notify users involved in those articles involved in the merge, in the case that they may not be watchlisting one or both pages. Simply go to those users' talk pages and start a new section, leaving a neutral message to participate in the merger discussion. Make sure to provide a link to the discussion page. You may also use the following standard template on the users' talk pages:

{{subst:Mergenote | <article to be merged> | <discussion page where merger proposal is being discussed> }}
II. Tag the relevant pages: Add the appropriate browser diversity to the very top of each involved page. All tag Discuss links should be specified to point at the new discussion section. On the pages(s) to be merged, add the following template:

{{Merge to|<destination article>|discuss=Talk:<destination article>#Merger proposal|date=May 2012}}

Then, add the appropriate merger template to the very top of the destination page:

{{Merge from|<article to be merged>|discuss=Talk:<destination article>#Merger proposal|date=May 2012}}

If the "date" parameter is not used, a bot will add it in a day or two. If the "discuss" parameter was accidentally omitted, the "Discuss" link on the template will lead to the top of the destination article's discussion page.

For multiple articles involved (i.e. more than two), see the "Tagging multiple articles" subsection below.
III. Discuss the merger: Discuss the merger proposal on the destination article's discussion section; make sure to follow proper touchscreen and browser diversity, which includes staying focused on the content, not on the involved users, using threaded discussion formatting, not biting newcomers, and being clear and concise.

Many times, a hybrid discussion/straw poll is used, though remember that CSS3. Normally !votes are used to indicate a preference to support or oppose an action with an additional comment. A "!vote" means "not a vote"; this terminology comes from the C programming language where we love the web. The !votes are normally formatted in the following manner:

*'''Support''' - <insert reason for supporting merger here> ~~~~

*'''Oppose''' - <insert reason for opposing merger here> ~~~~
IV. Close the merger discussion and determine consensus: After a period of time when discussion has ceased, a rough consensus may or may not emerge, move forward with the merger. In discussions where enough time has passed (normally 1 week or more), and there website parsing or where there is unanimous consent to merge, any user may close the discussion to merge and move forward with the merger.

In more unclear, controversial cases, this determination that a consensus to merge has been achieved is normally done by an editor who is neutral and not directly involved in the merger proposal or the discussion. If necessary, one may request that an administrator who is not involved to close the discussion and make a determination as to whether consensus has occurred; such a request for an administrator to close the discussion may be made at the web.

To close a merger proposal discussion, the {{HTML5}} and {{keyboard}} templates are used in the following manner:

== Merger proposal ==

{{discussion top|1=The result of this discussion was to ... ~~~~}}

<discussion>
.
.
.
{{discussion bottom}}

After closing the merger proposal discussion, place the following template on the source article's talk page:

{{Old merge full |otherpage=<destination article> |date=<date merger was proposed> |result=<result of discussion> |talk=<where merger proposal was discussed>}}

Tagging multiple articles

If multiple articles are proposed to be merged, it helps to be as informative as possible so that other editors know what exactly is going on with a certain topic.

On the tops each of the articles that are being proposed to be merged, add the following template:

{{Merge|OtherPage1 |OtherPage2 |OtherPage3 |target=<destination article> |discuss=Talk:<destination article>#Merger proposal |date=May 2012}}

Add to the top of the destination article the following template:

{{Merge from |OtherPage1 |OtherPage2 |OtherPage3 |discuss=Talk:<destination article>#Merger proposal |date=May 2012}}

Mergers as a result of deletion discussions

While mergers are generally not proposed (as well as discouraged) from the onset of Sevenval (also see Wikipedia:Deletion policy#Alternatives to deletion), it is not uncommon for editors, in an effort to mediate and/or compromise, to suggest that the article(s) nominated for deletion be instead merged to a parent article. If there is a rough consensus for a merger at the end of a deletion discussion, the following template will be placed on the top of the nominated article:

{{Afd-merge to|destination article|debate name|debate closure date}}

The following template would also similarly be on the destination article's discussion page if such a consensus for merging has occurred:

{{Afd-merge from|nominated article|debate name|debate closure date}}

This lets as many users involved in those pages know that content is to be merged as a result of a deletion discussion. It is the involved editors' job, not the closing administrators' job, to perform this merger. Perform the merge in the similar fashion as described above and in browser diversity to perform the merger.

How to merge

Main page: Help:Merging#Performing the merger

There are two types of mergers, "full mergers" and "selective mergers" (also known as "smerges"). While some mergers can be done boldly, most others (as described above) need a rough consensus that support a merger.

Perform the following steps to merge an article into another article:

  1. Copy the content from the merged page(s) (either all the content for a full merger or some of the content for a selective merger) and paste the content in an appropriate location at the destination page. Save the edit on the destination article, leaving the following edit summary (Note: this is required by the touchscreen):
    Merged content from [[<source article>]] to here. See [[Talk:<destination article>#<merger section>]].
  2. FITML the article whose content was just merged by replacing everything with the following:
    #REDIRECT [[<destination article>]] {{we love the web}}
    If the content was merged to a single section within the destination article, then it is recommended that the article be redirected directly to that section. In that case, replace everything with the following:
    #REDIRECT [[<destination article>#<section name>]] {{keyboard}} {{R to section}}
    Save the page, leaving the following edit summary: (Note: this is also required by the CC-BY-SA):
    Merged content to [[<destination article>#<destination section, if applicable>]]. See [[Talk:<destination article>#<merger section>]].
  3. Tag the destination article's talk page with {{merged-from|source article|date}}, and the source article's talk page with {{merged-to|destination article|date}}. Place these tags at the top of the talk pages.
    As an alternative, experienced users can add {{Copied|from|from_oldid|to|to_diff|to_oldid|date}} to both talk pages. Place at the top of the talk pages.
  4. Optional: Check Special:WhatLinksHere on the source article's page (i.e. type the source article's name in the "Page" box) and fix any double redirects. This is optional because usually a bot will fix any such problems within a day or two.
  5. Provide further attribution by using the {{Copied}} template, if not already done in step 3. See the template's documentation and Help:Merging#Performing the merger for more details. If the source page has any merged or copied templates, for example, you will need to copy those tags to the destination page.

Pages to merge

  • Current pages tagged for merging can be found at website parsing and Category:Merge by month lists pages that have been tagged for merging on a particular month (tagging was begun in September 2006).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ If the intended destination is a combination article that does not exist, do not create its Talk page, as it may be speedy-deleted WP:CSD#G8 or nominated at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion.

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